The Vatican Information Service is a news service, founded in the Holy See Press Office, that provides information about the Magisterium and the pastoral activities of the Holy Father and the Roman Curia...[+]

Last 5 news

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Vatican
City, 21 March 2013
(VIS) – On Holy Thursday, 28 March, the Holy Father Francis will
celebrate the Chrism Mass in St. Peter's Basilica in the morning and
then, at 5:30pm in the afternoon, will go to celebrate the Mass of
the Lord's Supper at the Casal del Marmo youth detention centre
instead of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, where it had been
traditionally held in past years.

The
Mass of the Lord's Supper is characterized by the announcement of the
commandment of love and the gesture of washing the feet. In his
ministry as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Bergoglio used to
celebrate the Mass in a prison or hospital or hospice for the poor
and marginalized. With this celebration at Casal del Marmo, Pope
Francis will continue his custom, which is characterized by its
humble context.

The
other Holy Week celebrations will be held according to tradition, as
established in a notification by the Office of Liturgical
Celebrations.

Pope
Benedict XVI also visited the Casal del Marmo youth detention
centre, on 18 March in 2007, to celebrate Mass in the Chapel of the
Merciful Father.

Vatican
City, 21 March 2013
(VIS) – Pope Francis has sent a message to the Most Reverend Justin
Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, on the occasion of his enthronement
at Canterbury Cathedral in London, UK, this past Thursday. Archbishop
Welby is the 105 Archbishop of Canterbury and the head of the
worldwide Anglican Communion.

“The
pastoral ministry,” writes Francis, “is a call to walk in
fidelity to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Please be assured of
my prayers as you take up your new responsibilities, and I ask you to
pray for me as I respond to the new call that the Lord has addressed
to me.”

“I
look forward to meeting you in the near future, and to continuing the
warm fraternal relations that our predecessors enjoyed.”

Vatican
City, 21 March 2013
(VIS) – Today was made public the message that Benedict XVI wrote
this past 4 February to the Most Reverend Justin Welby on the
occasion of his election as Archbishop of Canterbury.

The
Pope wrote that the archbishop was taking
up his office “at a time when the Christian faith is being called
into question in many parts of the Western world by those who claim
that religion is a private matter, with no contribution to offer to
public debate. Ministers of the Gospel today have to respond to a
widespread deafness to the music of faith, and a general weariness
that shuns the demands of discipleship. Yet the hunger for God, even
if unrecognised, is ever-present in our society, and the preacher's
task, as a messenger of hope, is to speak the truth with love,
shedding the light of Christ into the darkness of people's lives. May
your apostolate yield a rich harvest and may it open the eyes and
ears of many to the life-giving message of the Gospel.”

Benedict
XVI concluded with the prayer
that “the Lord grant you strength and wisdom” in whatever
challenges the new archbishop may encounter and asking that “the
Holy Spirit guide you in all that you undertake in his name.”

Vatican
City, 21 March 2013
(VIS) – Yesterday, shortly after noon, around 50 Argentine
nationals resident in Rome responded to an invitation to a spur of
the moment gathering with the Pope at the
Domus Sanctae Marthae.

Those
in attendance included the president of the Argentinian Bishops'
Conference, Archbishop Jose Maria Arancedo of Santa Fe de la Vera
Cruz; Master General of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of
Mercy, Fr. Pablo Bernardo Ordone, O. de .M.; priests and religious;
but also lay persons, families with children, and journalists.

The
guests had the chance to sing and dance in front of the Pope, sharing
light refreshments in a spirit of warm
friendship. The Pope paid tribute to the fruitfulness of the Church
in Argentina, praying that she might rise to the situation created by
his pontifical election.